He was so oddly formal today. Gone was the smooth-talking seducer who’d batted his pretty bedroom eyes and flaunted his goods for all to see. This version of Skylar seemed painfully young and even… scared. Was he afraid of me?
“Here you go.” I handed him an old t-shirt and a pair of sweats that were a little small on me but would probably swamp him nonetheless. “That’s one of my favorite shirts so make sure you return it.” He glanced down at the old ratty thing that had “Wolfsbane” scrawled in jagged, red letteringacross the front. “It’s a rock band me and a couple of my pack formed a few years back.”
“You play an instrument?” he asked with renewed interest brightening his eyes.
“Guitar and bass. Some drums too. We play out at Church sometimes.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful.”
“Do you play?” I asked.
“No, not really. I’m not part of the Music Guild, but I used to sing in the town square from time to time.”
He’d spoken of this guild business before, and it made me curious. “Do you have to be part of a guild to learn to play?”
“Yes, only Music Guild members are allowed access to instruments.”
“That seems… wrong. Music shouldn’t belong to any one group. It’s for everyone to enjoy.”
He bit his lip and seemed to not want to talk about it. I turned away so he could dress in private. When I turned back around, he was wearing my clothing with the silk robe over the top of it, blending our fashions.
“You look cute,” I said and gave him a friendly peck on his forehead.
“Thank you,” he said as a shy smile spread across his face. “You know what happens when you lend clothing to a fae, don’t you?”
“No, what?”
“You become a slave to their desires.” He stared at me, stone cold sober, then broke into a wide grin. “I’m kidding, Hiero. Goddess above, you should have seen your face.”
I took advantage of the light mood to pull him closer to me. “I wouldn’t mind being a slave toyourdesires.” I brushed my nose against his ear. “You going to come by the bar later to see me?”
“I thought I was banned,” he said with a petulant little pout.
“Ban officially lifted.”
“Would you want me to come by?” he asked and rubbed his cheek against my shoulder, a sweet, soft gesture.
“Yes, I would. I’m going to make a drink that tastes like you, to keep my cravings at bay until I can have you again.”
There, at least I’d made it known that I wanted to do this, whatever it was, again.
“Am I really so addictive?” he asked.
“Yes, baby boy. I’m afraid that you are.”
He stared up at me as if trying to determine if I was being sincere, then said soberly, “Thank you for last night, Hiero. I had a lot of fun too. It was just what I needed.” His smile was a little bit sad as he withdrew from my arms.
“Me too, Skylar. I really enjoyed your company.”
Lord have mercy, that was an understatement.
He gave me one last, searching look before heading for the door. It wasn’t exactly the send-off I’d hoped for, and for a long while after, I picked apart our entire morning, wondering where it was that I’d gone wrong.
“So, did you bed him?” Enid asked me a few hours later as we were restocking the bar in preparation for the night ahead. It was impossible to keep my love life to myself, especially since most of my lovers traveled from the bar to my upstairs apartment and back again. Even if that weren’t the case, this town was small and gossip spread like wildfire.
“I might have,” I said, trying to maintain some semblance of privacy.
“Mmm hmm, and?”
